


What Lies in the Dark

by Afanofthings



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Almost a Demonic Possession, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Heavy Angst, M/M, Protective Shane Madej, Scared Ryan Bergara, Shane Madej Likes Popcorn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25668481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Afanofthings/pseuds/Afanofthings
Summary: Shane and Ryan explore a haunted prison, and Ryan has an encounter with something evil that lurks within the building.The Shane/Ryan bit is more prominent towards the end, so you could either read this as them just being *very* close friends, or something more...
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 4
Kudos: 120





	What Lies in the Dark

Ryan crept around the corner of the doorway and peered down an exasperatingly long, dark hallway. Shadows gently swayed on the walls from the beam of light that emitted from his flashlight as it swept on every inch of the area. The soft glow bounced around in the darkness and stretched across the floor as it tried to expose the demons and monstrosities that awaited the man just beyond the light’s reach.

  
He gulped and took a cautious step forward, internally fighting with his gut that told him to go the other way and leave. But he had to do this. The people at home wanted to see him in his most fear-induced state. They wanted to watch him as he spiraled downward into insanity. As he slowly lost his grip on reality and fell into the darkness that wanted to consume him every time he entered one of these abandoned buildings.

  
Ryan jumped and let out a small yelp when he felt a heavy hand rest on top of his shoulder. He snapped his head around and was met with Shane’s caring eyes and easy-going smile. Something he wished he could smack off his face in that moment.

  
“You okay there, Ryan?” The brunette asked when the other man neglected his social cue to speak. “You seem a little extra jumpy this time.” He paused for a moment, as if contemplating his next words. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” His voice was now filled with concern. “Because if not, we can just leave right now—find some other cursed building for your once-a-season demonic place.”

  
“No, no. I got this. I’m—I’m good. I just got a little… a little startled. You scared me. You need to watch what you do with those big hands of yours.” Ryan chuckled as he tried his best to play off the minor incident and continue with his night in hopes to make it end sooner.

  
“Ahh, there ya are, buddy,” Shane said in a light mimic of a pirate voice. “Good to see ye’re back.”

  
Ryan rolled his eyes and continued down the darkened hallway. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s just get this over with.”

  
“For the Shaniacs!” Shane cheered, the enthusiastic energy coming from seemingly nowhere.

  
“For the Boogaras!” Ryan said in mock enthusiasm, even going as far as to pump a fist into the air.

  
Shane’s new found energy seemed to have disappeared as soon as it had come. “For the _Shaniac’s_ ,” he said in a serious tone.

“I think you’re confused here,” Ryan said as he stopped walking to look at his friend. “I wouldn’t be putting myself through this shit just to prove something is real to you and your cult—that you don’t even believe _exists!_ When the Boogaras’ can clearly see what is really happening. Therefore, we’re doing this for them.”

Shane wheezed a laugh that was a mix of an offended tone and a humorous one. “Did—did you just call the Shaniacs a _cult?_ ” He said the words as if they were the most absurd thing in the world.

“Wha—I, uhh… W-Wait—”

“You totally did!” Shane laughed wholeheartedly; placed a hand on his stomach as he threw his head back.

“You think _my_ followers are a cult, when _yours_ blindly listen and agree to whatever you say?”

“That’s not true! Yours just feed into your big ego—which is surprisingly bigger than your head,” Ryan shot back through a muffled laugh.

“Oh, oh great. There it is. You know—I knew it was coming. You just—you can’t help yourself, can you?” Shane asked in an almost exasperated tone.

“Can _you_ help having such a big head to lug around?” Ryan sassed.

“Okay, okay. You’ve had your fun. Now can we please get this thing started? I read on the paper of this place you gave me that there’s an original, 1885 edition, popcorn machine somewhere in one of the rooms down there, and I want to see if it still works.” Shane made a gesture to the end of the hall with his flashlight. The light from it poured into a couple of doorways, but didn’t offer much help in seeing what lied inside of them.

“I… _what?_ A popcorn machine? That’s what stuck out to you about this place? Is _that_ why you were so excited in the car...?” Ryan asked as he started to connect the dots in his mind. “Because you knew that there was an ancient, most definitely broken, _popcorn machine_ in one of the many deserted and _haunted_ rooms here?” he emphasized his words to make a point of how ridiculous Shane sounded.

“What?” Shane exhaled, offended that his friend sounded so disappointed. “I like popcorn.” He shrugged. “And I brought some of my own kernels if it ends up working.” He lightly shook his jacket pocket and the sound of the before mentioned food echoed throughout the the empty room. He then stepped forward to continue his walk down the corridor, though he accidentally brushed his shoulder against the shorter man’s own.

  
Ryan stood as still and as stiff as a wooden plank. He was so taken aback by his friend’s nonchalant response, that he didn’t even realize he was now all alone in the dark and eerie hallway. He quickly remembered _why_ he was in the abandoned stretch of room in the first place and snapped out of his strange stupor.

  
Ryan glanced around, but saw nothing except for thick and heavy shadows that seemed to consume all that was in its presence. Including him. And even though he was scared, his attention was focused on one particular spot on a wall just feet away from where he stood, where part of the shadow seemed thicker than the rest around it. He felt a sharp, icy hand crawl up his back and to the base of his neck that made the hair on his arms and legs stand up. The longer he stared at that spot, the more he felt uneasy and on-edge.

  
He watched in complete horror as the strange part of the shadow moved and seemed to thicken and become denser until it finally formed into the shape of a man. Its whole body looked solid, and was as dark as the night. There were two small, thin orbs of light that hovered near what seemed to be the head of the shadow. They glimmered a brilliant shade of deep black that could bore into your soul and feed off your fear until you were driven to suicide, to which it would then consume your physical body.

  
Ryan felt those same eyes trace every visible inch of his skin, and even on the places that were covered in the cloth he wore, which made him feel very violated and exposed.

  
The figure methodically started to make its way to the man who stood in the hall that was home to many bad things. It crept closer, only moving a couple inches at a time before it paused, moved, paused again, then continued on its path for its latest victim. 

  
Ryan wanted to yell out to Shane—to call for help. But he was paralyzed from the fear that spread like wildfire within him. He could only stand and watch in the darkness—flashlight broken and now on the ground—as the dense shadow slowly approached him. _Stalked him_ like the pray he knew he was at that moment.

  
The figure stopped merely a foot away from the shaking man in front of it, then made an unearthly sound that most resembled a deep groan from a large creature; then closed its eyes.

  
Ryan felt that same chilling hand that crawled up his back as the sound grew loud enough where he thought his ears would bleed from the sheer volume of it. He then watched in terror as the thing snapped its eyes open, though now they looked like blood-red flames that seemed to physically burn Ryan’s eyes from just looking into them. But he couldn’t make himself look away no matter how hard he tried.

  
The figure reached a hand out and, at arms length, tried to touch Ryan’s face. The darker-haired man was shaking violently now; his breathing erratic. He had absolutely no control of the situation, and he was terrified for his life. He was either about to be eaten, or possessed, and both scared him senseless.

  
The figure’s hand was now only inches away from his cheek; the skin there was staring to burn from the frostiness that emitted from the shadow-y matter. But past the sound of the blood rushing in his ears, Ryan heard his name being called out. And then, in the distance, heavy footsteps. As if someone was walking briskly, but not quite running.

  
He mustered up all the strength he had and tried to scream to get the person’s attention. All that came out, though, was a small, strangled squeak. But apparently it was enough to get their attention, because seconds later, a person Ryan couldn’t see clearly through the corner of his eye (since his eyes were in a hazy state that blurred his vision from the immense amount of fear he was experiencing and inability to blink) came around the corner from the end of the hall.

  
He watched as the dense shadow figure instantly dissipated as soon as the other person’s flashlight shined onto it and Ryan. He immediately felt the paralysis vanish when the shadow disappeared, and he could move and breath properly again.

  
He felt tears well in his eyes as an overwhelming amount of emotions bombarded him all at once. He collapsed to the floor on his knees in a heap of post-trauma-sobs; hands covered his face and arms wrapped tightly around himself. He curled into a ball and rocked back and forth to try and calm his shot nerves as small droplets of transparent liquid streaked down his pink cheeks.

  
He was so shaken that he completely forgot about the other person, so when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder, he screamed and jerked away from it.

  
“Ryan! It’s just me! Shane!” Shane said in a frantic tone as he knelt down to the same level as the fearful man on the ground. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  
Ryan’s eyes widened with recognition as a wave of relief washed over him. His sobs stopped momentarily as he stared at the man just out of his reach. He panicked at the thought of loosing Shane and being dragged down into the darkness with that thing that had paralyzed him just moments ago.

  
He acted quickly on this new fear and lunged forward; securely wrapped his arms around the taller man, who he had knocked back from the impact of the sudden action.

  
Shane didn’t hesitate to return the gesture and comfort his friend, no matter how confused he was at the moment. All he knew was that Ryan needed him, and that was all he needed to know to help him in any way he could.

  
Ryan started to sob heavily in Shane’s arms, almost choking on snot and mucus at one point. He pressed his body as close to the other man’s as he could, fearing that if any means of physical contact were lost, he would loose him altogether. He buried his head inside the opening of Shane’s jacket as he cried.

  
Shane held Ryan as if he were an injured puppy as he slowly rocked them both back and forth on the cement floor of the prison. He rubbed soothing and gentle circles on the other’s back, and even kissed the top of his head at one point for extra comfort.“In for four. Hold for four. Release for four. C’mon, Ry. Do it with me. In for four. Hold for four. Release for four. I need you to breath, Ryan, come on.” Shane demonstrated the breathing technique as he spoke. Ryan slowed his breaths to a decent pace (for someone who was almost demon food), though it wasn’t as slow as Shane would have preferred it to be.

  
“It’s okay, Ryan. It’s going to be okay. Can you tell me what has you like this? What happened that made you freak out?”

  
Ryan’s breathing slowed enough for him to be able to talk, though his voice was a bit hoarse. “I s-saw a demon, Shane. A-An actual demon. It—it t-tried to possess me. A-A-And it almost _did!_ ” He choked a bit as another sob racked his body, but let the tears fall nonetheless as a fresh wave of reality and fear settled on his chest.

  
He clung to Shane tightly and slowly shook his head against the other man’s chest. “I was so scared, Shane...” he whimpered. “I thought I was going to die. Or—or become that thing’s slave for an eternity.”

  
Shane hesitated to do or say anything for a moment, unsure of how to respond to his friend’s words. “Ryan, I... Uhh...”

  
Ryan felt his heart cease to beat for a moment. Shane didn’t believe him... He must think he was insane; to be balling over something _he_ didn’t even believe existed. And to act so scared and traumatized about a situation that couldn’t even be considered a possibility in Shane’s eyes was far beyond embarrassing—it was disturbing. At least that’s what Ryan thought his friend might make of the whole thing; that he thought this ordeal was just abrasive and burdensome by this point.

  
The shorter man pulled back, head now filled with sorrowful and melancholy thoughts as he stared into the brunette’s eyes, searching for something to tell him that he believed what he had said. When he couldn’t find what he was looking for, he felt a wave of doubt and pain wash over him and cling to his heart. “You... You don’t _believe_ me, do you?” he whispered quietly, voice thick with emotion.

  
Shane’s face immediately dropped, and words started to pour from his mouth in a rush to comfort his friend. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, Ryan—because I do! For the most part... I believe _you_ , just not necessarily the words you’re telling me. But I also believe that you’re hurt and scared. More than usual, I might add. And the main focus for me right now is to get you out of the place as soon as possible.”

  
He then stood up, helping a shaky Ryan to stand on his feet as well. “So lets go,” he said as he gently wrapped a lanky arm around the other man’s waist and guided him through the building. To which they went back outside; the bitter breeze nipping at their exposed skin. He sat his friend down on a bench just outside from the facility and took a seat next to him.

  
They sat in a heavy silence for what felt to be an eternity. Until Ryan coughed to clear his throat, then looked up at Shane; still trembling terribly. “Thank you for saving me. ...Even if you don’t believe what happened...” He looked down again as sadness hit him when he let the words sink in. And if Shane didn’t believe him, and he was there to witness the incident (the end of it at least), then would _anyone_ if he told them the events that took place that night? He sighed when he realized that no one would believe him if they were to ever listen to his story.

  
He looked up again when he felt hands on his shoulders and his upper body be shifted to turn to the side. “Listen, Ryan,” Shane began in a stern, yet soft, tone. “I may not entirely believe you when you say you were possessed by a demon—“

  
“ _Almost_ possessed,” the shorter man corrected shakily.

  
Shane continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “But I will always be here for you when you’re scared, and if that shit happens again. Because even if I don’t believe what you’re saying, I know that you are hurt nonetheless. I don’t want you to think that you’re alone in those situations—because you’re not. And... I don’t like seeing you hurt, so I’m... I’m sorry that I don’t believe you. Just know that I do care and want to help.”

  
Ryan felt a small bubble of relief in his chest grow as he listened to the other man speak. He knew Shane, and for him to say something like that meant he really _did_ care. Even if he wouldn’t ever believe what had truly happened, it still meant something to Ryan.

  
Shane stood up after a moment, then offered a hand to his friend. “Come on. Let’s go home; relax. Rethink our choices in life and reconsider our careers, and maybe watch a movie? Get some dinner? On me, by the way. I know this great place that’s just downtown—“

  
“Can we just focus on getting away from this shit-show of a prison first?” Ryan interrupted as he accepted the offer and stood up. “Then we can think about food and relaxing and taking a break or whatever when we get far enough away. I still feel vulnerable out here...” He looked to his left, then right; checking to see if there were anymore dense shadows around. Or rather, _demons_.

  
Shane, who hadn’t let go of the other’s hand yet, gently squeezed it to silently reassure the shorter man that he was safe and okay, and that—as long as the former was there—nothing would happen to him again. “Alright,” he said softly. “Let’s go then. I’m driving, though.”

  
Ryan chuckled bitterly. “Yeah, no shit genius.” He walked hand-in-hand with the taller man back to the car; the bad thoughts and feelings of the prison slowly faded the farther away he got from the building, and were instead replaced with tranquility and serenity.

  
He shivered as a cool wind breezed passed him; sent a chill down his spine. He regretted not bringing a jacket or long sleeve shirt of any kind with him, since he was now paying the price for his actions, or lack there of.

  
Shane must have noticed how cold his friend was, because he slipped off his jean jacket and draped it over the shorter of the two’s shoulders just seconds later. The warmth of it from him having worn for a long period of time sank into Ryan’s bones and warmed him to the core. The former rolled his shoulders and slid his arms through the sleeves; taking full advantage of the offering.

  
He then felt a lanky arm wrap around his torso and the hand that belonged to it settle on his waist. So, in return, he shuffled a bit closer and mimicked the gesture. Though instead of laying his arm on the other man’s shoulders, he snaked it across his back and let his hand softly rest on the jean underneath it.

  
He smiled, despite the circumstances of what had just happened not even thirty minutes ago. Because he knew that he was safe there in Shane’s arms as they walked through the eerie parking lot in the darkness of the night. And he knew that—in that moment—nothing would be able to harm him.


End file.
